Co Armagh coach firm announces plans to roll out Glasgow service across the north

Aodh Hannon (left) of Hannon Coach has revealed plans to expand the company’s direct luxury coach service between Belfast and Glasgow to other towns across Northern Ireland. He is pictured with Stena Line’s Ian Baillie and driver Jim McAlorum

Gareth McKeown

07 September, 2018 01:00

Aodh Hannon of Hannon Coach and Stena Line’s Ian Baillie

A CO Armagh coach company has announced the proposed roll-out of its popular Glasgow service from Belfast to an additional seven locations in the north.

Hannon Coach launched its Glasgow Express in February and following a successful six months is now planning to offer the service to customers in Derry, Enniskillen, Coleraine, Ballymena, Cookstown, Strabane and Newcastle.

The current Belfast to Glasgow service operates twice daily in both directions.

Hannon Coach director, Aodh Hannon said the planned growth in the service is a direct response to increasing demand.

“There's a shared history and natural connection between Northern Ireland and Glasgow, which means people will always need travel options, and the success of our new express service from Belfast has shown that there is still a lot of potential to grow this market further."

"Over the summer we piloted an extension of the service to include both Sprucefield and Lurgan and we are now looking at introducing additional services to and from Glasgow with one-stop connections from local towns across Northern Ireland.

“We have submitted applications for all of these new services to the Department for Infrastructure and hopefully we will receive the green light soon, so we can get the services up and running as soon as possible,” Mr Hannon added.

Ferry company Stena Line, carrier for all Glasgow Express services across the Irish Sea, welcomed the proposed expansion.

“Glasgow has always been a hugely popular destination for Northern Ireland folk and what the new Hannon Coach service has shown is that there is still room for growth in this market, with our own figures for express coach services to Scotland showing an increase of 7.5 per cent year on year, " Stena Line's Ian Baillie said.

“The introduction of new pick-up points from more towns across Northern Ireland can only grow this traffic further."